Plea to stop pouring fat and oil down drains as sewers blocked

Severn Trent's sewage treatment works team say the festive season saw an increase in the amount of fats, oils and greases being poured down sinks and into the sewers.

The company said the congealed mess was not only horrible to deal with, but also clogged up the works and, in time, could block sewers as well.

Phillip Powell from Severn Trent said: "Fat, oil and grease is a real problem all year round, but around Christmas and New Year we always see an increase in the amount arriving into our works which can cause big problems.

"In some cases we have to hire in vacuum wagons to remove huge breeze block sized chunks of FOG as they can cause huge blockages within the pipe work.

"Pouring your cooking fat down the sink might seem like the easy thing to do but, once in the sewer system, it congeals into solid lumps which can then combine with other things like wet wipes which don’t break down.

"This can easily lead to a big blockage and sewer flooding, which is really horrible thing for anyone to experience.

"To avoid blockages we advise waiting for cooking fats, oils and greases to cool before disposing of them in the bin."

The company said that in the last year it has been called out to thousands of blockages across the region.

The majority of these were caused by people misusing the sewer system by washing and flushing things like oils and greases, wipes, nappies, sanitary products and tampons down the drains.

Mr Powell said: "Many customers also may not realise that they are responsible for the waste pipe running away from their home up until it either crosses the property boundary or meets with another waste pipe or sewer.

"It doesn’t take much to cause a blockage and unblocking or repairing this section of pipe can be costly, but it’s completely avoidable if you’re careful about what you pour down your sink and flush down your toilet."

For any issues with slow drains or a blocked sewer, go to stwater.co.uk or call 0800 783 4444